Because pure water is the most gentle liquid cleaner, begin by wiping down your walls down with a cellulose sponge dampened with water. If plain water is not successful, opt for a soapy solution of 1 gallon of water mixed with 2 tablespoons of mild, non-abrasive dish detergent.
If you are looking for a more natural trisodium phosphate substitute, borax can be a fine replacement. It doesn't require all the safety measures of TSP and is inexpensive, easy to use and it won't hurt the environment. Borax can kill fungus and strip away dirt and grease on porous surfaces such as wood and cement.
Mix a cleaning solution in a bucket. About 1/2 cup of dishwashing detergent to one gallon of warm water makes an effective cleaner to remove grease, tobacco smoke and grime. Borax or ammonia with warm water will also work.
Trisodium phosphate, or TSP, is a powder you mix with warm water and use to wipe down your walls before painting. It is essential to paint preparation, acting in three ways to improve your paint's adhesiveness.
Vinegar is an excellent solution for natural from trisodium phosphate cleaners. It is a superb wall degreaser suitable for cleaning cabinets before painting. This process is relatively easy and efficient. You need to mix an equal amount of water and white vinegar.
An Alternative to Cleaning with TSP
Also known as sodium borate, borax is a naturally-occurring mineral compound that will clean many of the same surfaces TSP has been used on for years, including mold- and mildew-stained areas—all without causing damage nearby plants.
The comparable cleaning product in Canada and the USA is trisodium phosphate, also known as "TSP". However, due to environmental concerns about the impact of phosphorus on lakes and streams, products labeled TSP may not actually contain any trisodium phosphate. "Sugar Soap" in the USA is generally a cosmetic product.
Instead of TSP, I like to clean my walls with a simple solution of warm water and Dawn soap (or any dish soap). Dawn is available anywhere and many homes already have it on hand, making it easier than TSP. It breaks down grease and leaves your walls incredibly clean.
Simple Green is an environmentally safe alternative for TSP that is also not an irritant. It is a liquid cleaner that can clean an array of surfaces and material. It cleans and cuts grease well and there are a variety of formulations for different applications.
When prepping for a paint job, TSP can clean and de-gloss painted surfaces and remove peeling, flaking old paint. Inside the house, TSP works well on the stubborn sort of grease-meets-dirt gunk typically found after pulling an old stove or fridge away from the wall.
For greasy, grimy walls, combine 1 cup of ammonia, 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup baking soda with 1 gallon of warm water. Rinse the cleaning solution off your walls with a clean cellulose sponge saturated with clear water. Wipe down the rinsed walls with a soft, dry rag.
Washing your walls and trim will remove grime, cobwebs, dust and stains that can prevent your paint from adhering. Use a mixture of lukewarm water and mild soap, gently rubbing in a circular motion. Rinse your walls using a slightly damp cellulose sponge.
Why is there Trisodium Phosphate in Food? TSP is most commonly used to reduce the acidic nature of foods, especially breakfast cereals, as it modifies cereal color and aids in the cereal's flow through the extruder. Other uses are: Added to meat to retain moisture during storage and cooking.
Apart from warm water, a sugar soap helps in removing all that grease and dirt so the new coat of paint looks fresh. Cleaning with sugar soaps helps the new paint to stick to the walls without hampering the adhesion.
Krud Kutter 32 oz. Prepaint Cleaner/TSP Substitute PC326.
After thoroughly scrubbing away any grease, grime or cleaner buildup from the surface of the cabinets with a good laminate cleaner/degreaser (trisodium phosphate, or a TSP substitute, but follow directions carefully), take the gloss off the laminate with 180-grit sandpaper.
A Gentle Cleanser
Because it's such a mild cleaner, dish soap is an ideal first line of attack for dirty walls. A mixture of 1 ounce of your favorite dish detergent per gallon of warm water removes general dirt from most surfaces as well as smudges from walls with a gloss or semi-gloss finish.
Mix water and dish soap
Now that the dust is wiped away, it's time to wash walls. Fill one bucket with a gallon of warm water and mix clear liquid hand or dish soap and water in the other. Soak a cloth in the solution, and wring it out well.
Do professional painters wash walls? Yes! For exterior painting, we usually power-wash the surface, or sometimes hand-scrub, to make sure it is free of surface contaminants. Inside, pressure washing is not an option, but in many cases the walls need to be washed prior to paint application.
I would avoid using Sugar Soap on windows. The residue from Sugar Soap if it is not thoroughly removed from glass can become very difficult to get off of the surface. I would stick with a standard glass cleaner for this application.
First, wash your tiles and grout with sugar soap using a toothbrush and scrubbing brush. We used Selley's Sugar Soap concentrate for this, mixed with warm water in a bucket – it works a treat. Use your toothbrush, scrubbing brush and some elbow grease to scrub the grout and give it a good going-over.
No need to rinse. Using a soft clean cloth like Selleys Super Cloth, soak in the sugar soap solution, ring off excess and clean walls. Always start washing from the highest point to the lowest to avoid 'running'.
To create an all-purpose spray, dissolve 2 teaspoons of borax into 4 cups of hot water, then mix with 1 teaspoon of dish soap and 4 tablespoons of vinegar. Use this to clean countertops, appliances, windows, and more.